Journal ofTrw The Missing Puzzle Piece in Translation Pedagogy: Adaptive and Elastic Competence Grace Qiao Zhang Curtin University, Australia Abstract The study of effective and innovative translation pedagogy has been drawing increasing attention in recent years, but the training of adaptive and elastic competence is somewhat overlooked. This study investigates the importance of strategic translation through the theoretical lens of Verschueren's (1998) Adaptation Theory. The analysis is based on a case study of the 2001 Sino-American Hainan airplane collision crisis, and in pru.ticular the pivotal role of different versions of the American "two sorries" letter in facilitating the resolution. It highlights the need to incorporate language adaptation and the interests of all parties in a translation. This study argues that translation is a negotiable and adaptable process, influenced by both overt and covert components, and that this process should be reflected in translation education by fostering the ability to get behind the text to cater to the interests of all interested patties: that is, to cultivate adaptive and elastic competence. The findings suggest that a realistic, balanced, and robust account of adaptation and elasticity is needed for effective translation education. 1. Introduction Tertiary translation and interpreting education focuses too much on academic and literary translation, and there are immediate needs for training in commercial translation (Schellekens 2004). There have_been ©Department of Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. Published by The Chinese University Press, ISSN 1027-7978. Journal of Translation Studies 14 (1 & 2) (2011) Missing Puzzle Piece in Translation Pedagogy important developments that suggest a more effective and innovative person to person .. Transmissionist frameworks assume that if students translation pedagogy is required, such as Vermeer's (1989) learn all the components of the syllabus, they should be able to translate Skopostheorie, Gutt's (1991) relevance models, and Kiraly's (2000) texts during practical translation classes, which is far from the reality social constructivist approach, among others. The importance of adaptive (Prieto and Linares 2010). and elastic competence is to be addressed in translation education, which In recent years, the tertiary sector has increasingly become aware of is the focus of this study. the needs of the translation industry and redesigned their courses In this study, the working definition of "adaptation" (Verschueren accordingly. Kiraly (2000) proposes a social constmctivist approach to 1998) of translation refers to the adjustment made in translation, and translation education, progressing from traditional transmissionist "elasticity" of translation (Glinert 2010; Zhang 2011) refers to a pedagogy. He promotes a student-centered/empowered approach and translation that can be "stretched or compressed," so to speak, to suit situates training within authentic actions. Kixaly suggests a professional communicative needs. This study investigates the significance of elastic needs analysis; his concept of translator competence validates authentic and adaptive translation. materials in process-oriented, reflection-driven, collaborative, problem­ The theoretical framework used here is Verschueren's (1998) based learning. Prieto and Linares (2010) propose a pedagogical shift Adaptation Theory (AT), and the discussion is based on the translation from a translation competence approach (teacher-centered) to a translator negotiation of a U.S. letter issued during the 2001 Sino-American crisis competence approach (student-centered). They state that while there are concerning the Hainan airplane collision. AT stresses three properties of some positive aspects to the translation competence approach (such as in language and its use: variability, negotiability, and adaptability. The three Neubert 2000; Schaffner and Adab 2000), in order to bridge the gap are interwoven and interdependent. Variability considers what linguistic between professional needs and students' actual competence, translation choices are available, negotiability reveals how the choices are made, educators should be encouraged to work with the translation industry and adaptability discusses why the decisions are arrived at. The and to consult national standards. Pellatt, Griffiths, and Wu's (2010) adaptability factor has four aspects: contextual correlates, structural. edited book is a collection of works on the teaching and testing of objects, dynamics, and salience. The key concept of AT is that language translation and interpreting. Among others, Chen's (2010) experiment use is strategically adaptable; this study intends to investigate the reveals that small student-student group discussions, as opposed to applicability of AT to the teaching of translation. teacher-student groups, are more conducive to enhancing students' reflective thinking and their ability to identify and solve problems, which in turn helps to improve translation quality. 2. 'franslator 'fraining to the Real World and the Market Little research has been canied out in training students' adaptive and There seem to be more works focusing on translation itself than on the elastic competence in translation. Given that there are multiple and teaching of translation. However, translation education is just as viable solutions to translation, the expectation of a single con·ect answer important as, if not more than, translation study itself because ' is unrealistic (Kiraly 2000); this study explores the strategic and professional and systematic training promotes the effectiveness of pragmatic operations of providing translations that meet the stakeholders' translation. Kiraly (2000) states that traditional translation teaching communicative needs, where the focus is on how the translation can be models tend to adopt a transmissionist approach, paying little attention flexible enough to incorporate the interests of all those involved. to the needs of students, industries, and clients, a typical teacher-centered approach. He also, as does Warren (2005), argues that a transmissionist 3. Adaptation Theory, Translation, and Translation Teaching approach does not recognize language as context-bound because it treats translation teaching as a transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, To develop the study of pragmatics, Verschueren (1998) proposed AT as treating language as a simple transparent medium transmitted from a way to explore the use of language from an interdisciplinary (linguistic, 18 19 Journal ofTranslation Studies 14 (1 & 2) (2011) Missing Puzzle Piece in Translation Pedagogy cognitive, social, and cultural) and cross-linguistic perspective. AT treats study of the 2001 Sino-American dispute in terms of the role translation played in averting a major crisis. language as a system of communication, and lang1uage use as a communicative event. It provides a systematic explanation of pragmatics and the interpretability of human linguistic behavior in relation to 3.1 The Role of Translation in the 2001 Sino-American Incident relevant contextual, cognitive, social, and cultural variables. AT considers language use as the continuous making of linguistic On April 1, 2001, a U.S. Navy plane was operating about 110 kilometers choices. These can be conscious or unconscious choices, for language­ from China's Hainan Island when two Chinese fighters intercepted it. internal and/or language-external reasons. The choices may be phonetic, During the interception, there was a nlidair collision that caused the phonological, lexical, semantic, morphological, or syntactic. The three death of a Chinese pilot ru1d the emergency landing of the U.S. plane on key notions of AT, variability, negotiability, and adaptability, are Hainan; twenty-four American crew members were detained. hierarchical and integrated. Variability is the basis, providing a range of Given the extreme strategic sensitivity of Hainan Island, China and possible choices of language form. These choices of language principles the United States disputed the legality of U.S. naval aircraft overflying and strategies are negotiated in a highly flexible manner, rather than the area as well as the cause of the collision and the assignment of being stipulated automatically. In the process of negotiation, the blame. To resolve the situation, a so-called "letter of the two sorries" adaptability principle guides the language user to make the choices that was delivered by then U.S. runbassador Joseph Prueher to China's then will achieve communicative goals effectively. foreign nlinister Tang Jiaxuan on April 11, 2001. The final version of the AT focuses on four interdependent aspects of language use, letter was agreed upon by both sides after several rounds of back-and­ including context, structure, dynanlics, and salience. Adaptability looks forth negotiations and after earlier drafts of "regret only" statements at contextual correlates, suitable structural layers, temporal adjustments, were rejected by the Chinese government. Here ru·e two relevant excerpts and the degree of awareness and motivation of linguistic choices. All from the accepted letter (underlining added by the author): these involve the language user, in terms of perception, representation, (1) Both President Bush and Secretary of State Powell have expressed their and interpretation processes. AT emphasizes that the dynamically sincere regret over your missing pilot and aircraft. Please convey